We got our first look at Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey on Monday when the film’s official social media accounts shared a photo of Matt Damon in costume. It looks like the actor will be playing the lead role of Odysseus, and it looks like the movie will have a straight-up historical setting. It shows Damon in profile wearing a Legionnaire’s helmet, a cape, and forearm bracers while standing in front of a massive fresco. Previous reports indicated that filming would begin this month, so this is a very early shot likely taken recently. The Odyssey is scheduled to hit theaters on July 17, 2026.
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There has been a lot of chatter about Nolan’s Odyssey since it was announced back in December, and while we’ve learned about the schedule and the A-list cast, we’ve heard very little about the story. This image seems to tell us that Damon is playing Odysseus himself, but the roles of each cast member still have not been explicitly announced. Some fans even theorized that this might be a modern re-telling of this Ancient Greek epic, while this image seems to tell us that it will be a straightforward historical adaptation.
Of course, that could still be a misdirect. It’s possible this costume and setting were used for a dream sequence or cutaway in a movie that mostly takes place in modern times — we simply don’t know at this point. Universal Pictures has given us a lot of information about the incredible talent behind this film, but they seem to be intentionally obscuring the details on the story and characters. That could mean there’s a big surprise coming.
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The Odyssey is one of the oldest works of literature still read by modern audiences today, and is considered foundational to the development of art and storytelling as we now know it. The epic poem is attributed to the author Homer, and it is set at the end of the Trojan War. It tells the story of the king of Ithaca, who became a hero to his people in the fighting. The story is about his long journey home from Troy, facing many obstacles and mystical enemies. He then arrives home to find Ithaca in disarray and his wife overwhelmed with ambitious suitors who presumed him dead.
The story has been adapted and re-interpreted countless times in many ways, which is why so many fans have trouble believing that Nolan’s movie will simply be a faithful film version of the historical fantasy as we know it. That has been done a few times before, but that doesn’t mean seeing a 21st Century version by Nolan wouldn’t be fun — far from it. Much of Nolan’s most beloved work has leaned on well-established stories, so this would likely become the definitive Odyssey for our time.
The Odyssey is filming now, and based on its schedule, principal photography will take quite some time. It is slated for release on July 17, 2026 in theaters.
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Image courtesy of Apple TV+
